May 23, 2017

Greetings My Friend, My Dad used to tell me " Leave something for the man's imagination when you are going out on dates." He meant that men don't need to see all of a woman's female parts exposed for all eyes to see. This statement has stayed with me through the years. When I found myself single again I remembered what my Dad taught me and dressed more conservatively. While reading 1 Timothy I see the Apostle Paul's teaching about how a woman should dress, "Like wise also that women should themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness - with good works." For years I read the first part of the passage with an "eye" on how to present myself as a woman, not loud or proactive and I love striving to live this way. It has always meant more to me to share my womanly ways with my husband only. This time I stopped at "with good works", my first thought that part of being a woman also is about seeing to the needs of my world around me, like befriending a young lady while her Mom goes to work or writing a poem for my children and some of the children in the neighborhood. To me I see this as a natural part of what "mother's" or "women" are inclined to do. I recall a lesson in Titus 2 about older women are teach the younger women how to love their husbands and their children. Loving is not as natural to us as we think it is. Loving for me did not come easily, I had a "needy" love where I wanted to love so I could receive love. I am a people pleaser by nature and I do not always know what healthy love is. God teaches us how to Agape love in His Word and I see it in the way He loves me. God is not needy and has no problem correcting us for our own good. I wanted my children to love me and I tended to try to be soft on my children because the parenting love I had was so harsh. I could never please my parents and I desperately wanted their love. It would have helped me to have an older woman guide me and teach me. Grandma C helped me a little but she too was not able to teach since her own mother died when she was 7 years old.The other older woman in my life who taught me about being a woman was my mother-in-law. She too lost her mother and left school in the 3rd grade so her role as a woman was also skewed. I long to mentor young women, older women whomever the Lord puts in my path. I know my writing is another way to reach out to others and to point them to Jesus. Another way I can show other women is to dress nicely without showing all the female parts I have. My goal is to live what I believe and I believe the Bible teaches me how to live my life. May God bless you and keep you make His face shine on you. Love Janet